Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-07-09
AN AFRICAN EXECUTION.
BISHOP TAYLoR's ADVENTURES IN
THE CONGO STATE.


turing Victim.
Two or three weeks before the bishops ar
rival man died in the village, and, as 10 fire.
quently the case, the medicine man had been
summoned TO declare what or rather who had
been the cause Of it. The doctor. after the
usual demonstrations, oracular utterances
frenzied dancing and other tomfoolery, had
fixed the responsibility for the death upon a
captain of the tribe. The truth undoubtedly
was that this captain had done something to
offend the doctor, who took this way of get
ting even. The captain was brought before
the king and charged with the crime of be-
witching the deceased. He denied the charge
and was then ordered to drink cup of a kind
of tea made from the sasswood tree. 1t is
deadly poisonous mixture. The medicine
men tell the king that If man who is guilty
drinks of it, he will die; but an innocent man
will not be harmed Whoever drinks or
course dies Immediately in terrible agony,
and the prestige of the doctor is heightened
accordingly.
The captain in this instance refused to
| drink the tea He was sent away from the
| kings presence for day or two pending
| further consideration of the case, but that
| very night he was shot by an unknown man
| in his house. After six days of su~ering the
captain died. His friends besought the repre-
sentative of the free state government to in
terfere, but he hesitated. He was new to his
position and dared not take very decided
measures. So the king of the tribe has be-
stirred himself The dead captain had been
| favorite of his and tlso accusation of the doc
| tor had disturbed his majesty. Now that the
| captain had been murdered he determined to
| punish the criminal. A man was arrested
and tried for the crime and found guilty.
| He was, of course, condemned to death.
A NOVEL PUNISHMENT
| When the bishop arrived the hole in the
| market place had been completed. 1t
| was somewhat large and deeper than an
| ordinary grave The object that had at
| tracted the attention of half Of the crowd
was the condemned man himself. He sat
ON the ground with his hands tied be-
| hind his back. Seven feet in front Of
| him was a young tree that had been
bent toward him. The top Of the
| tree had been cut away, so that a fork made
! by the two main branches remained on the
slender trunk The condemned mans mech
was put in this fork and the ends of the Inns
were made fast behind his head. The tension
of the tree kept constant strain his
throat, not enough to strangle him, but
enough to be painful and TO prevent him
| from making any motion. He had been sit
ting thus for hours watching the preparations
| for his execution and enduring the gaze of
| hundreds of the villagers. Not far away the
| king, dressed in a gorgeously colored robe,
| sat experimenting the operations The work
progressed in due order, but without the
ceremonious solemnity that characterizes an
execution in Christian countries. The king
| gave his instructions when he chose to inter-
| fere to subordinate, who transferred them to
| the captain in charge of the workers at the
| hole.
When the diggers climbed out and laid aside
| their shovels there was a slight pause, and the
| crowd gathered closer to the excavation.
| Presently the king uttered a command in q
| loud voice and several subordinates actually
began the work of execution. They first cut
| off the tree in front of the captive's neck,
leaving the prongs of the fork still tied about
him. He was led to the hole and ordered into
| it. Up to this time he had preserved a stoical
| expression, but at that moment he weakened
and trembled. He cast piteous glance to-
ward the king and looked all around him
| wildly. One of the executioners fastened
matters by pushing him into the hole. He
| fell in heap ON the bottom, and three men
| went in after him. They placed him on his
feet, and while one held him steady the others
| began to pack dirt about his feet. The work.
| men left on the brink of the hole, carefully
shoveled the earth that had been dug up back
| again. and the men inside continued the pack
ing process.
PERFECTLY HORRIBLE.
The victim writhed and screamed terribly
as the work proceeded, and a gag was inserted
in his mouth to still his cries. The people
with morbid curiosity crowded to the edge of
the hole, even to the point of interfering with
the workmen, and a squad of warriors in
armor drove them back. The men in the
hole stamped the earth hard all about the
victim until it was up to his waist. They
then got ont and the filing in continued more
rapidly, and others helped in the stamping.
The hole was originally SO deep that the vic
TINS head was more than foot below the
surface. When his mouth was reached care
was taken not to fill in around him until the
rest of the hole had been leveled over. Then
few shovelfuls thrown upon the head effect
ually buried the poor fellow, but the work
men were still cautious to note exactly where
| the head was.
| After all the dirt had been thrown back
| and the burial was complete the reason for
| their caution became apparent A workman
| came forward with a long, hard wood pole
sharpened and tipped with iron at one end.
| This was inserted into the ground directly
over the victims head. A movable platform
wasproduced and men standing on it began
to pound the pole down into the ground. The
| horrible object of this was TO transfix the
victim through the length Of his body. The
pounding was continued with mallets until
| the entire length of the pole had been driven
into the ground. Then the implements that
had been used were taken away and the
crowd dispersed.
| Much depressed by this lugubrioas spectacle
| the bishop and his companions resumed their
journey to Stanley pool.-Africa Cor. Globe
Democrat